Massachusetts Question 1, Contraception Ban Exemptions Initiative (1942)
| Massachusetts Question 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Family-related policy and Healthcare governance |
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| Status |
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| Type Indirect initiated state statute |
Origin |
Massachusetts Question 1 was on the ballot as an indirect initiated state statute in Massachusetts on November 3, 1942. It was defeated.
A “yes” vote supported exempting certain contraceptive-related activities from criminal penalties when provided to married persons by physicians for health reasons, taught in chartered medical schools, or published in medical journals or treatises. |
A “no” vote opposed exempting certain contraceptive-related activities from criminal penalties. |
Election results
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Massachusetts Question 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 495,964 | 42.07% | ||
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683,059 | 57.93% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:
| “ | Shall the proposed measure which provides that the present statutes which make it a crime punishable by fine or imprisonment knowingly to advertise, print, publish, distribute or circulate any matter containing reference to any person from whom or place where any drug, instrument or means whatever, or any advice or information may be obtained, for the purpose of preventing pregnancy, or to sell, lend, give away, exhibit, offer or advertise any drug medicine, instrument or other article for the prevention of conception, or to write or print information of any kind stating when, where, how, of whom, or by what means such article can be obtained, or to manufacture or make such article, shall not apply to treatment or prescription given to married persons for protection of life or health by or under the direction of registered physiclans nor to teaching in chartered medical schools nor to publication or sale of medical treatises or journals, which was disapproved in the House of Representatives by a vote of 77 in the affirmative and 133 in the megative and in the Senate by a vote of 16 in the affirmative and 18 in the negative, be approved? | ” |
Path to the ballot
Before 1952, citizen-initiated ballot measures in Massachusetts required a fixed number of signatures. In 1950, voters approved a constitutional amendment changing this to a percentage-based system, tying the number of required signatures to ballots cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. Before 1952, the signature requirement for indirect initiated state statutes was 20,000, with an additional 5,000 if the Legislature rejected the proposal and proponents wanted it placed on the ballot.
See also
External links
- William Francis Galvin Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts Statewide Ballot Measures: 1919-Present"
- Holyoke Daily Transcript and Telegram, "A Sample Ballot for Tuesday's State Election," October 29, 1942
Footnotes
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